STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The ARPA (Assam Rail Passengers’ Association) said that NF Railway is going to start circa 2025 by carrying forward its disparities over railway facilities to Assam when compared to the rest of the country.
Talking to The Sentinel, ARPA general secretary Dipangkar Sharma said, “NF Railway developed double tracks, besides better electrification of railway tracks. However, it has not yet fully restored the trains that were stopped from running between Assam and the rest of the country during the Covid days. The number of local trains has not been increased even as the number of local passengers has been on the rise. Apart from this, due to the paucity of local trains, most of the passengers of Assam cannot avail themselves of the benefits of several long-distance express trains.”
Sharma said, “The Rajdhani Express introduced in 1969 was the only premium train for the passengers from the state capitals to reach the national capital, New Delhi. In the case of Assam and other states of the Northeast, three Rajdhani Express trains have been running between New Delhi and Dibrugarh. However, the passengers of Rangia, Diphu, Sivasagar, etc., cannot avail themselves of the benefits of the Rajdhani Express—20503/20504—because of the lack of stops. This Rajdhani Express runs five days a week from New Delhi to Dibrugarh and vice versa via Lucknow, Baranasi, Samastipur, New Bongaigaon, Guwahati, and Moran. This train runs from New Bongaingan to Guwahati, covering 157 km without any halt. Had there been a stop at Rangia Junction, passengers from Tangla, Udalguri, Lakhimpur, etc., could have availed themselves of its benefits. Since there is no stop of this train at Diphu Railway Station, the passengers of the hill district of Karbi Anglong have to go to Lumding or Dimapur to catch this train. Sivasagar is well known as the tourism capital of Assam. As this Rajdhani Express doesn’t stop at Sivasagar, it continues to miss a tourist spot that deserves the footfall of visitors. On the contrary, this train has stops at New Coochbehar and Alipurduar that are just 19 km apart. Muzaffarpur and Samastipur are located only 51 km apart, but both have stops. Likewise, Ballia and Chapra have stops, even as these two places are just 65 km apart. We hope against hope that good sense will prevail over NF Railway on its disparity against the train passengers of Assam in 2025.”
Also read: NF Railways To Run Special Trains During Maha Kumbh To Ease Passenger Rush
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